STUDY: Vegetarian diets (vegan, lacto ovo, semi-) reduces diabetes in blacks — substantially and independently. The study found that in blacks, the dimension of the protection associated with vegetarian diets, was as great as the excess risk associated with black ethnicity.

The study, led by Dr. Serena Tonstad, a professor at Loma Linda University, was published online in the October edition of Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases. Dr. Tonstad and her colleagues found that compared to non-vegetarian blacks, vegan blacks had a 70% reduced risk of diabetes, and vegetarian blacks had a 53% reduced risk. The study also found that blacks who exercised three or more times weekly compared to once a week or not at all, had a 35% reduced risk of being diagnosed with diabetes.